I've been living in France for the last year so I've made quite a few trips back and forth to the UK and have used EasyJet quite a few times. I'd heard both good and bad things about them so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I decided to go for them based on two factors, mainly price and destinations.
Note: my flights with EasyJet have all been Newcastle - Charles de Gaulle and vice versa.
Destinations Many low cost airlines have limited destinations or go to out-of-town airports, fortunately EasyJet doesn't seem to. I'm only aware of 3 budget airlines flying to the UK from CDG: EasyJet, flybe and BMI Baby. I flew with flybe once and they were great, but they only fly direct to Manchester from CDG which isn't very convenient. BMI Baby only
flies to the East Midlands.
Price Of all the airlines, flying my route, EasyJet is the cheapest. It's usually a few hundred less than AirFrance and less than half of BA's price.
Booking I booked all of my flights via their website, it cuts out the middle men but you do have to be careful as they try to sell you lots of extras. The worst thing is that travel insurance is added automatically, so remember to remove it! It's best to pick insurance yourself so you can choose the right cover for you. Another thing that's automatically selected is hold luggage, if you don't have any you can save money by removing that too. You also have option to buy more luggage space/weight, sports equipment, carbon offsetting...etc.
Check in Check-in opens 2 hours before the flight and at CDG it's organised chaos. It seems there are about 5 or 6 destinations all opening at the same time and it isn't clear which one is at which desk, so everyone mills around until staff appear to tell them where to go. Check in is fairly easy, though the staff seem a bit standoffish and are more interested in talking amongst themselves. You get your boarding card and head for security.
The Terminal You know you travel too much when you start having opinions about the terminals... At CDG, EasyJet flies into and out of 2B which is a rubbish one. After check in you go through a passport & boarding card check into an area with lots of shops. Make sure to eat/drink/go to the loo here because there's no departure lounge. After security you go straight to the gate, which hasn't got enough seats and has a glass roof, turning it into a greenhouse in the summer.
Boarding EasyJet doesn't allocate seats, you just get on the plane and pick one (which as you can imagine, takes ages & leads to chaos). Instead passengers board in waves. First up are people who are disabled, elderly, have kids under 5 or have paid extra for Speedy Boarding. Then it's boarding group A, then group B. How you get in group A is a mystery to me. Even when I've been there right at the start of check in...group B every time.
The plane The planes are pretty cramped and an examination of the floor reveals why. On one side of the aisle, the dividing line in the carpet is in the right place; on the other, it's under one of the seats. It seems EasyJet adds an extra seat to every row so they can get more passengers in, making things a little cramped. Also, the seats are pretty uncomfortable.
During the flight Since it's a budget airline, EasyJet doesn't give away food and drink. You can however, choose to buy it when the trolley comes along and later in the flight you can buy other things: perfume, gadgets, kids toys etc. The problem is though, that they often don't have on the plane what it says they'll have according to the catalogue. Another problem during the flight is the speakers over your head which they use to make the announcements. Painfully loud. Whenever they say certain sounds (like "s") it really hurts your ears.
The Landing This deserves a section of its own because the worst thing about flying with EasyJet is that you get a terrible landing EVERY time. With AirFrance, the pilot flies along just above the runway for a few seconds then gently touches down. Flybe do the same thing. EasyJet pilots seem to smack the plane down really hard, often accompanied by the feeling that you're skidding and/or sharp braking.
Punctuality We've all heard horror stories about flight delays and cancellations but *touch wood* I've never had any problem with EasyJet. Make sure you're there in plenty of time though, because even the boarding card says "If you're late, we won't wait".
My Verdict Overall, you get what you pay for. EasyJet are far from my favourite airline, but they go where I need to be and are by far the cheapest on that route so I keep going back to them. Minimising costs is my priority.
Would I recommend them? Whether I'd recommend EasyJet to you depends on what you're looking for. If you want a relaxing, comfortable journey with good customer service, try a different airline. But if you want to get from A to B as cheaply as possible and you're willing to tolerate some inconveniences (like crazy boarding policies) then EasyJet's a good choice.
Good review! Have to admit I've had a few harder landings but nothing as bad as with Ryanair who come in very hard and fast. The last time I flew with them a couple of people screamed as the touch down was that hard!
Katieshaz 12.05.2009 11:36
I used to work as crew for EZY and now fly for BA. The pilots are trained to a very high standard and I have never noticed that fact that EZY pilots land the plane badly. Several conditions can affect landings such as wind, rain etc
Regarding seating-BA also operate B737's or A319/20 aircraft which EZY use-both have the same configuration of 3 seats, aisle and then 3 seats.
The choice of food/drink/duty free goods do run out as the crew generally fly 4 flights a day on the plane and nothing gets re-stocked.
Nice review. :-)
poshtroika 11.05.2009 13:08
Seems most of your problems are check in related (CDG). Use ONLINE Checkin this gets you into group A and does away with the Check in problem. As for landing problems, I note you are still here to review them so no harm done. Regards Steve.
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sjl02 31.07.2001 ·
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Review of EasyJet - EZU
Advantages: Undeniably cheap but friendly service provided Disadvantages: Cost of beverages and snacks on board & no call to make your way to the departure gate
purdy 02.07.2001 (15.08.2001)
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Review of EasyJet - EZU
Advantages: Online trading - should be extremely advantages Disadvantages: get it wrong and you're heavily punished both psychologically and financially
corky 14.07.2000 ·
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Review of EasyJet - EZU
May 11th, 2009
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